News

557th SMXG earns VPP gold status, two medical units also recognized

  • Published
  • By Wayne Crenshaw
  • 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  The 577th Software Maintenance Squadron has become only the second unit at Robins to win Gold Site Safety Status in the Commander's Safe Site program.

Star status is the highest level of safety recognition by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. To reach the goal, the Commander's Safe Site program was established for units on the base to achieve bronze, silver and gold recognition for safety improvements.

The 577th SMXS became the first unit in the 402nd Maintenance Wing to win gold status, which means it meets the qualifications as an OSHA Star site. The move to reach gold status began about a year ago, said electronics engineer Chris Thomas, who helped coordinate the effort.

"There was a lot of dedication from employees," he said. "It feels really good because they actually came on board. We are more of an administrative area, so we don't have as many hazards, but for them to come on board and actually dedicate the time to making it part of the culture, it was a great feeling."

Among the initiatives implemented was to seek volunteers to train for CPR and the use of a defibrillator. Those who receive the training have a red flag placed over their work place so that anyone in the office can quickly locate someone trained in first response.

Employees also volunteer to give regular safety briefings, he said.

Melanie Clearman, the VPP program manager for the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, said it's a big step to get a second unit at Robins with the gold designation. (The other unit to earn gold status was the 542nd Combat Sustainment Wing's Operations Management Branch.)

Getting gold status, she said, involves a visit by a team of safety experts that includes a representative of a local company that has Star status.

"Achieving gold level is not an easy task," she said. "The criteria are demanding and require team commitment to safety and health. While it's clear that the Commander's Safe Site Challenge isn't the VPP Star, it's our way of preparing for the time when OSHA steps on to the installation to conduct the Star assessment."

In addition, two medical group units at Robins are the first in the 78th Air Base Wing to win honors in the Commander's Safe Site program, which has a goal of getting Star status for the entire base.

Recently the 78th MDG's pharmacy and bioenvironmental engineering flight became the first two units in the wing to achieve Commander's Safe Site honors, with both winning bronze recognition.

Ms. Clearman said the two units winning bronze status is a big step toward the goal of getting OSHA Star status for the base.

"It's a huge deal," she said. "They have developed ways to get employees involved who were not otherwise involved."

She compared getting OSHA Star status to "eating an elephant." The Commander's Safe Site program was developed to achieve that goal in smaller bites by encouraging safety improvements within units first.

Maj. Michael Cartwright, the pharmacy flight commander, credited the bronze status to hard work by his staff over the past few months. Among the steps taken to improve safety included having every staff member sign a pledge committing to the goal of developing a safety culture, improving safety communication and identifying risks in the workplace.

"I'm really proud of the staff here and what they did," he said. "They really worked hard."

Lt. Col. Stephen Novac, chief of the bioenvironmental engineering flight, said part of his unit is responsible for indentifying environmental hazards in workplaces throughout the base. That gave some extra incentive to promote safety culture within the unit itself, he said.

"We needed to be leading from the front on this," he said. "We need to show everybody we are putting our money where our mouth is."

Although safety has long been a priority of the office, he said, the VPP initiative led to more frequent safety briefings and more emphasis on improving personal health. They also discuss safety outside the workplace, covering such topics as seatbelt use and hunting safety.

"It's not just about the workplace," he said. "It's about life."